Katy Bennett

Horror Writer And Poet

Writing Prompts

"In every picture there's a poem, in every poem a picture." Chinese Proverb.

Writing Prompts are taken from Dark Metre - the free resource for horror poets and fans and permanently archived here. In the meantime, here's a few to get you started:

Instructions: Use one of the photo's below to inspire a piece of writing such as a free write, a poem or story. A new writing prompt is added every month so come back often to try the new ones or revisit old ones. Why not try writing a piece that incorporates more than one photo?

I have deliberately not supplied any information with the photographs. I want to see what your imagination can come up with on its own. If you sell a piece of writing that was based on one of these, please let me know so I can celebrate with you.

All photo's are taken by myself with either a Nikon D50 or a Coolpix S3000 camera.

June 2013

Your writing prompt this month is to incorporate the following three words into your poem "Key, Tunnel, Man".

May 2013

Your writing prompt this month is Fear

April 2013

For your writing prompt this month dig through your archives and find one poem that remains incomplete or didn't work out so well. See if you can bring new life to the piece.

March 2013

For your writing prompt this month incorporate the following four words into your poem: Bridge, Moon, Man, Chain.

February 2013 - Writing Prompt 28

Your prompt for ths month is "Possession"

January 2013 - Witing prompt 27

Your prompt for this month is "Rain"

December 2012 - Writing Prompt 26

Your task this month is to write a villanelle.

November 2012 - Writing Prompt 25

A firework display goes wrong on an epic scale

October 2012 - Writing Prompt 24

24June 2012 - Writing Prompt 23

For this month's prompt turn your biggest fear into a poem.

April 2012 - Writing Prompt 22

For this month's prompt write the heading "101things to write a horror poem about" at the top of a sheet of paper. Write as many variations as you can think of. Choose the one that gets your creative juices going or choose one dealing with a theme or a trope you haven't tried before. Develop it into a poem.

January 2012 - Writing Prompt 21

For this month's prompt take an ordinary object, feel it, describe it, give it a voice, what wisdom would it impart?

December 2011 - Writing Prompt 20

For this month's prompt you awake to find your ghost self standing at the end of your bed.

November 2011 - Writing Prompt 19

For this month's prompt think about a dream you had recently or one you can remember. Think about the elements of the dream, what objects, emotions, colours or themes can you explore in a poem? Now write that poem.

October 2011 - Writing Prompt 18

For this month's prompt choose one item from each category below to incorporate into a ghost themed poem or story or any other form of writing you feel comfortable with: